Bill Brandt
An English photographer of German birth, Bill Brandt traveled to Vienna in 1927 to see a lung specialist and then decided to stay and find work in a photography studio. There, in 1928, he met and made a successful portrait of the poet Ezra Pound, who subsequently introduced Brandt to the American-born, Paris-based photographer Man Ray. Brandt arrived in Paris to begin three months of study as an apprentice at the Man Ray Studio in 1929, at the height of the era’s enthusiasm for photographic exhibitions and publications; his work from this time shows the influence of André Kertész and Eugène Atget, as well as Man Ray and the Surrealists.
Upon his return to London, in 1931, Brandt was well versed in the language of photographic modernism. During the 1930s he published his important early monographs The English at Home (1932) and A Night in London (1932) in addition to becoming a frequent contributor to the illustrated press, specifically Picture Post, Lilliput, Weekly Illustrated, and Verve, his published pictures exemplifying his technical skill and his interest in building visual narratives. Some of his most significant reportages represented the extreme conditions created by World War II. After the war, Brandt began a long exploration of the female nude, transforming the body through the angle and frame of the camera lens.
Introduction by Mitra Abbaspour, Associate Curator, Department of Photography, 2014
- Introduction
- Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983) was a British photographer and photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British society for such magazine as Lilliput and Picture Post, later he made distorted nudes, portraits of famous artists and landscapes. He is widely considered to be one of the most important British photographers of the 20th century.
- Wikidata
- Q63184
- Introduction
- Born 3 May 1904; died 20 December 1983. Brandt began photographing in Vienna, Austria from 1927 to 1928. From 1929 to 1930 Brandt studied under the surrealist artist Man Ray in Paris, and became influenced by surrealism. From 1931 to 1939 Brandt set up as a freelance photographer in London, England. He specialized in social documentary photography, and often collaborated with the press. From 1939 to 1945 Brandt turned to photojournalism. Brandt photographed air-raid shelters and Londoners during war-time from 1940 to 1945 for the British Home Office. He also took documentary photographs for the National Buildings Record, London, England. British photographer, born in Germany, raised in Switzerland.
- Nationalities
- British, English, German
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Photojournalist, Photographer
- Names
- Bill Brandt, Hermann Wilhelm Brandt
- Ulan
- 500026943
Exhibitions
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510: A Modern Media World
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
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510: Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters
Fall 2019–Fall 2020
MoMA
Collection gallery
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From the Collection:
1960–1969 Mar 26, 2016–Mar 19, 2017
MoMA
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Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light
Mar 6–Aug 12, 2013
MoMA
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Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000
Jul 29–Nov 5, 2012
MoMA
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Bill Brandt has
34 exhibitionsonline.
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Bill Brandt Hungary c. 1930
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Bill Brandt Losing at the Horse Races, Auteuil, Paris c. 1932
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Bill Brandt Park Lane 1932
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Bill Brandt Rainswept Roofs 1933
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Bill Brandt Coach Party, Royal Hunt Cup Day, Ascot 1933
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Bill Brandt Soho Bedroom 1934
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Bill Brandt Evening in Kenwood c. 1934
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Bill Brandt Cricket in the Park c. 1934
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Bill Brandt Billingsgate Fish Market c. 1934
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Bill Brandt Evening in Kew Gardens c. 1935
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Bill Brandt Tic-Tac Men at Ascot Races 1935
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Bill Brandt Marché aux Puces, Paris c. 1930
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Bill Brandt Parlourmaid and Under-parlourmaid Ready to Serve Dinner 1936
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Bill Brandt Street Scene, London 1936
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Bill Brandt Coal-Searcher Going Home to Jarrow 1937
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Bill Brandt Parlourmaid Preparing a Bath before Dinner c. 1937
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Bill Brandt East End Morning 1937
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Bill Brandt Northumbrian Miner at His Evening Meal 1937
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Bill Brandt Children in Sheffield 1937
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Bill Brandt A Snicket in Halifax 1937
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Bill Brandt Bloomsbury Party c. 1937
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Bill Brandt East Durham Coal-Miner Just Home from the Pit 1937
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Bill Brandt Halifax 1937
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Bill Brandt Late Evening in the Kitchen c. 1937
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Bill Brandt Policeman in Bermondsey 1938
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Bill Brandt Parlourmaid at a Window in Kensington c. 1939
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Bill Brandt Barmaid at the Crooked Billet, Tower Hill 1939
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Bill Brandt Customers at the Crooked Billet, Tower Hill 1939
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Bill Brandt St. Paul's Cathedral in the Moonlight 1939
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Bill Brandt Kensington Children's Party c. 1934
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Bill Brandt Girls in Shared Attic, Shoreditch 1939
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Bill Brandt Crowded, Improvised Air-Raid Shelter in a Liverpool Street Tube Tunnel 1940
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Bill Brandt Liverpool Street Underground Station Shelter 1940
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Bill Brandt In the Public Bar at Charlie Brown's, Limehouse c. 1942
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Bill Brandt Bombed Regency Staircase, Upper Brook Street, Mayfair c. 1942
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Bill Brandt Deserted Street in Bloomsbury 1942
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Bill Brandt Outside a Soho Nightclub 1942
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Bill Brandt Packaging Post for the War c. 1942
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Bill Brandt Dylan Thomas and His Wife, Caitlin, in Their Room, Manresa Road, Chelsea 1944
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Bill Brandt Top Withens 1945
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Bill Brandt In the Public Bar, at Charlie Brown's, Limehouse c. 1942
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Bill Brandt Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire 1945
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Bill Brandt Top Withens, West Riding, Yorkshire 1945
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Bill Brandt Hampstead, London 1945
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Bill Brandt Edith and Osbert Sitwell beneath the Family Group by Sargent, Renishaw Hall, Yorkshire 1945
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Bill Brandt Haworth Churchyard 1945
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Bill Brandt Peter Ustinov 1945
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Bill Brandt Rocks in the Bog near Lettermore, Connemera County, Galway 1946
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